Kevin Costner in line to star in Jack Ryan reboot

Paramount also keen to recruit Tom Hardy

Kenneth Branagh's forthcoming Jack Ryan reboot has added some more A-List clout to its ranks with the confirmation that Kevin Costner has signed on to play the key role of William Harper.

Harper is a badass former military man, who takes on the responsibility of recruiting and training Ryan (Chris Pine). And intriguingly, Deadline reports that he won't be restricted to just the one movie.

Apparently Costner is also in talks to star in Without Remorse , a standalone film to be directed by Chris McQuarrie, focusing not on Ryan but on John Kelly. You might remember Kelly (who later becomes known as John Clark) from previous Ryan outings, having been played by Willem Dafoe in Clear And Present Dange r and Liev Schreiber in The Sum Of All Fears .

Kelly is a Vietnam vet and mercenary who finds himself teaming up with a prostitute / drug mule to take down her former employers. However, when she is raped and killed by said crims, the mission takes on a more personal quality...

Paramount also has its eye on a potential lead for that film, with Tom Hardy thought to be the priority for Kelly. Hardy and Pine as the twin focal points of a revitalised franchised? Looks like This Means War didn't do anyone any harm, after all...